Chapter 4 Dinner Disaster

After the ceremony, " If you don't want to be chosen, why you came here?" Alexander asked angrily while holding me close forcing to look into his eyes. " Tell me now" His voice thundered in my ears.

“I was forced to attend the ceremony." my eyes widened at my own words and it shocked me that I wasn't able to control them. That wasn't the response I wanted to say.

“It's nice to tell the truth for once, huh?” he asked softly, his eyes growing a shade darker as he released me from his grip.

“No way.he compelled her?" I heard the girls whispered among themselves and that's when I realized what he had just done.

Vampires are famous for their power of compulsion, one of the many powers they possessed and it was then when it hit me that at the very least, I wouldn't even be able to get away with a simple lie.

"She's not here on her own will. Yet she's chosen." I heard Kristen hiss and I bit my bottom lip at her obvious statement.

“Perhaps you're all getting the wrong idea here,” Alexander started in a cold voice, slipping his hands inside his pockets before frowning down at the three girls.

“None of you are fit to be my keeper and will never meet my expectations. The only reason why I let you girls with this ceremony is to please my brothers. Your job is to entertain them, not me. I have no interest in pathetic and weak humans like yourselves unless." he trailed away, lingering his eyes around me before a sadistic smirk appeared on his face, causing me to flinch.

"You're willing to fulfill my hunger."

I glared at him as belittle them. In case he forgot, I am one among them. I walked towards my room when he stops me.

" Your room is changed, Katarina . I will show you. " He dragged me with him leaving the girls with Joey and his step brothers David and Franklin. David just started at him helplessly.

"Your room.” Alexander confirmed, opening a door to reveal a spacious and luxurious room with vintage furniture. The first thing that I noticed in my new bedroom is the large window that seemed like the perfect way out for me to escape this god-forsaken mansion. Everything was in black, including the painted walls and the luxurious chandelier that hung over my king sized bed. The bed, however, was neatly wrapped up with a warm, peach colored blanket with at least five pillows surrounding the headboard. As I stood gawking at my new room, I heard him 'tsk' before giving me a slight push inside, sending me stumbling forward. I swiftly turned around and stood up straight before regaining my posture, realizing that I was still in a mansion full of blood-thirsty vampires. There was no time to admire or gloat over my new bedroom.

“Your luggage only has the basic necessities, the clothes are provided by me which is inside that wardrobe," he said, pointing his finger to a huge wardrobe that stood near at the very corner of the room, next to a door, which I assume is the toilet. “Dinner will be ready soon, eat if you want and"

"No thank you, I'm not hungry." I cut him off, earning a glare from him and I quickly hung my head.

"Scratch that, you don't have a choice.” he corrected, his tone remaining harsh and rude, and I slowly nodded, praying he would leave already so that I can at least take a shower and strip off this gown. “By midnight, you're going downstairs where my brothers and Me will be waiting for you all.” he instructed, causing a shiver down my spine. What's that supposed to mean?

"You're going to-"

“What's that supposed to mean?" I cut him off again and this time, he took a step forward, clearly irritated with the fact that I was interrupting him and I bit my bottom lip to shut myself.

“Last chance doll face, don't interrupt when I'm talking.” he warned and I nodded obediently, not even the least bit bothered with the new pet name I just received.

"You're going to please them until I return." he finished his sentence and my jaws dropped open at his words.

"You-you mean..."

“Yes, let them feed on you.” he cut me off with no emotion in his voice, not to mention the fact that his face remained unfazed from him own words. How could he be so disgusting and cruel? Forced to be his keeper was one thing but in the meantime, I have to please his sick brothers as well?

"Okay." I lied, turning away and I heard the door close shut before he disappeared, another power that the vampires possessed. High speed. As soon as he left, I walked over to the wardrobe before opening it and staring in awe. Clothes filled the entire closet and on the bottom of the wardrobe, were a line of shoes and slippers. I opened two drawers and blushed furiously upon seeing the undergarments. He sure had everything planned and ready within a few hours. Was he planning to win me over with clothes and food?

I rummaged through the clothes for at least 15 minutes or more before a frustrated sigh escaped through my lips. Although they are the trending fashion style, almost all these clothes were too revealing or short. Not that I mind wearing short clothes or anything but when you're living in a household full of blood-thirsty, horny vampires then yes, I do mind. With a soft grumble, I grabbed a white, ripped, high-waisted short with a light pink tank top and white cardigan, finally giving in.

I decided that the knit cardigan was just to conceal my bare arms. As soon as I was done, I rushed to the bathroom to take a shower. I was relieved to finally be able to get out of this tight and sweaty dress I am still wearing. I hated wearing this.

As soon as I poured the water into the bathtub and stepped in, my body melted inside the water. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before biting the inside of my cheeks to force myself from breaking down again. It's been such a long night so why can't it end already?

“I hate this." I murmured out loud this time. After taking a good, long, hot bath, I decided to come out. I knew that staying in for too long will only absorb me into my own thoughts, resulting in me crying all over again. Funny how a weakling like myself is trying so hard to stay strong but failing miserably so far. I wore my new clothes and brushed my hair a few times when a sudden knock on the door caused me to jump up from my position.

"C-come in." I said softly and the door opened to reveal an unfamiliar, male face. “My name's Franklin, nice to meet you!" he greeted, bolting up to me in high speed and I gasped when I found one of his arm already wrapped around my waist while the other having a firm grip on my wrist as he pulled them closer to his ears, causing me to inch forward.

"Wa-wait, what are you-"

“Such a cute one, what's your name?" he asked softly, completely ignoring my resistance as I tried to lean away from his face which was only closing in more and more.

“Don't be so rude!" I heard another familiar voice, Franklin was ripped from my body and pushed away. I watch him stumble backwards because the next thing I knew, my hand was taken a hold off by another guy, who was now bending down on one knee before placing a soft kiss on the back of my palms, taking me by surprise as I blushed slightly.

“ David, pleasure to be at your service." he stated softly, parting his lips from my skin and I pulled away before taking a step back.

“Screw you, look who's flirting now!" I heard Franklin snap as he stood up straight and I studied them both, my eyes darting from one to another. Were they here to feed on me?

"P-please leave." I managed to choke out and I watched them both narrow their eyes before exchanging glances.

“We're here to escort you to the dinner room." David stated, ruffling up his thick brown hair a bit and I looked up to meet his blue eyes. Can I trust them? What if this was a trick to lure me in to the feeding room or worse, what if they were planning to rape me? That wouldn't be surprising either.

"I'm not going.” I concluded . David simply raised a brow as Franklin chuckled.

“Why not?" he asked softly, shooting up his eyebrows and I hung my head, fiddling with my fingers. "Because I don't trust you." I stated truthfully and they both rolled their eyes at my “pathetic” response.

"You're the only one protesting us. The other girls were friendly and so much sweeter." David grimaced as Franklin agreed.

“ so, please leave." I raised my voice, trying to keep up the brave act. Just seeing their face makes me to want to crawl under the earth. I don't know why, but vampires made me feel sick to the very core. It's obvious that they were using their charms and good looks to lure in all humans and use them as their personal blood bag.

“Oh come on, you're already late!" David complained, bolting up towards me and picking me up in his arms, causing me to gasp.

“What are you doing?! Have you lost your-" before I could finish, my head started to spin for a few seconds before it came to a sudden halt and as soon as my eyes came to focus, I realized that I was in another room. No, not just any room. It was definitely the dining room.

“Ridiculous. She even has to be forced to attend the dinner?" I heard one of the girls voice as David placed me down.

"Ignore her Diana." Kristen said, holding the girl's shoulder to "calm" her down. They were now sitting at the dinner table and my eyes widened when I realized that all vampires were now sitting in their chairs as well, their eyes on me as I squirmed in my position uncomfortably. You ever go up to the stage and get stage fright when you see a bunch of people staring at you? Yeah well, this was a million times worse.

“Go sit.” I heard Alexander's voice and I gasped before turning to face him. He walked past me and sat at the very end of the table before several butlers walked in, holding the plates of food and bottles of wine. With a pounding heart, I rushed to take the remaining seat, which “luckily" for me, was right next to Alexander. The dinner began shortly and everyone was now chatting and getting to "know" each other while I just stared at my plate, my eyes glued to the food the entire time.

"Why's she being so quiet?" I heard a male voice and before long, all attention was drawn towards me again, making me shrink in my seat. Why can't they just ignore my existence and leave me alone, just for tonight?

“Who knows." I heard Alexander's voice and I glanced at him, knowing that he didn't like to be ignored or disrespected. I should at least acknowledge his existence. He was now resting his elbow on the table, his chin placed on his palms lazily while the other hand rested on the table, his gaze firmly set on my face and I gulped softly before averting my gaze.

"She's so boring!" I heard another girl whine and some of the males chuckled while the rest remained silent, studying my every actions.

“hanna, leave it. She doesn't even find it in her heart to apologize for being disrespectful and ungrateful." I heard Kristen sneer boldly and I remained silent before pressing my lips together into a thin line.

“I'm sorry." I managed to choke out and the males cooed at my sudden words.

"Well, isn't that lovely. It talks.” Alexander taunted and I bit my bottom lip, tears streaming in my eyes as the males chuckled while the girls giggled at his joke.

"She's just shy." I heard David say. "I'm not shy, I'm scared!" my inner voice shot back at him.

"She'll get used to it." Joey agreed, tilting his head to a side before grinning at me.

“I don't want to get used to it!" my thoughts retorted.

“Yeah, she'll come to adore and love us soon!" Franklin said in an ignorant tone, which pricked my nerves more than it should.

“I hate you all and that's never going to change!" I screamed in my head, blinking away the tears and standing up from my position.

"I'm done." I said and about to start leaving when Alexander's voice caused me to freeze.

“And exactly who, gave you permission to leave?" he demanded. I nibbled on my bottom lip before turning to look at him, his blur eyes penetrating into my brown ones as I stood silently.

“That's what I fucking thought." he said softly as I sat back down and everyone cleared their throat before continuing their conversation.

“My parents-" I started, looking at Alexander and he stopped to take a sip from his wine. “May I please talk to them?" I asked softly and he took another sip painfully slow causing my anxiety more.

"No," he stated bluntly, not even bothering to look at me. “They don't want to talk to you anyways.” he muttered under his breath. I stared at him in shock.

"That's not true." I protested, tears welling in my eyes again as I tried to keep myself together.

“Really?" he asked, sarcasm clearly evident in his voice as he placed his hands on the table before leaning forward.

“Because they were begging me to make sure you were never able to contact them ever again.” he finished with a soft, cruel chuckle and everyone else joined him, causing anger to bubble up inside me.

“That's not true, you're lying!" I argued, standing up from my seat and he simply chuckled again .

“But then again, even parents wouldn't want to keep a pathetic cry baby in the house to-" before he could finish, my hands involuntarily grabbed the nearest glass of wine before throwing it on his face, it spilled all over his shirt and face. Gasps filled the room and my hands immediately started to tremble when I realized what I had just done.

“What the fuck was that for?!” he yelled, slamming his hands on the table and shooting up from his seat before I looked up at meet his glare.

“You-you went too far..." I barely choked out, trying to defend my actions and by now, everyone was remaining silent, not even bothering to help me out.

"You're on a fucking roll tonight aren't you, Barbie doll?" he asked, his eyes raging with anger as he held the empty glass that I was still holding as well. “Perhaps you're forgetting your fucking place!" he spat with venom in his voice as I felt the intensity of his grip on the glass getting stronger.

“Shall I remind you?" he asked, his voice turning soft and I gasped when he suddenly ripped the glass from my grip before turning around and hurling it to the nearest wall. The glass connected to the wall and I watched in shock as it shattered into a million pieces.

“I'm sorry-" I quickly choked out but I knew that a mere apology wasn't enough to calm down a psychotic ill-tempered monster.

“Should I compel you into slitting your own wrist and end your pathetic life here and now?" he asked, roughly clutching my wrist and bringing himself closer. My eyes widened as I bit my quivering bottom lip to stop myself from shaking before I shook my head, my hair dancing around my face as I tried to fight back my tears.

Something flashed in his eyes but it left as soon as it appeared and I opened my mouth to say something when David's voice echoed through the silent room.

“Let's not do anything hasty on her first day, brother. She apologized, I'm sure it won't happen again, right Katarina?" David asked and for the first time ever since I entered this mansion, my lips curled upwards to form a smile as I mouthed “thank you" at him before Alexander's intense gaze returned from David and back to me.

“Yes!" I said quickly and Alexander gave me a very long and cold look before releasing my trembling hands and move back.

As soon as he did, he disappeared out of the room and I took in a shaky breath, brushing away a few tears that had fallen down on my cheeks. Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? I understand that there are consequences to every bad deed but what have I done so wrong in my past life to deserve any of this?

"You should go have some rest." David suggested and without further questions, I turned around and bolted out of the room. I didn't exactly know where I was going but I passed the hallway before meeting up the spiral staircase.

Normally, I would I have used this chance to make a run for it but I've already caused enough trouble for the night. I jogged my way up the stairs, turned to my left and straddled along the long hallway before I noticed a familiar door. My room. I found myself bursting inside as I rushed towards the bed before plopping on it, tears rolling down my cheeks as soon as I rested my head on the soft pillow.

"I hate this, I fucking hate this!" I cried, bringing a pillow to cover my face before muffling out a scream.

"I'll escape, no matter what. There is no way I'm staying here!" I assured myself, brushing away my tears and swallowing down another sob.

"I just have to come up with a good plan."